Sport College Football Playoff debate: Will we be at four teams forevermore?

18:22 19 june 2017

18:22 19 june 2017 Source:
Sporting News

No changes on horizon for college football playoff format

Texas Tech athletic director Kirby Hocutt said no changes are planned in the College Football Playoff selection process.&nbsp;RELATED: Full Q&A with Kirby Hocutt on playoffs, Big 12 and Kliff Kingsbury

How long will the College Football Playoff keep four teams ? Will we ever get to eight? Sporting News breaks down the debate .

Four great teams are in the College Football Playoff , but to some people, eight teams would be better. They are wrong. I’m glad I could clear this up.

College Football Playoff executive director Bill Hancock squashed talks of expanding the College Football Playoff before the championship game in January. Hancock maintains that the four-team playoff format likely will stay in place through the length of the current 12-year contract. Hancock maintained the stance most advocates of the four-team playoff uphold.

"The disappointment that team No. 5 feels would be the same disappointment that team No. 9 feels," Hancock said. “There wouldn't be any change in that. For me, it's about the regular season. Our regular season is so compelling, and I don't think our leadership would do anything to diminish the regular season."

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In just its first season, the College Football Playoff is heading for a debate bigger than anything we ever saw with the BCS and it is all because of the biggest flaw with the 4 - team In college football , there are five so-called "power conferences" and just four spots in the College Football Playoff .

- College Football Playoff will be the name of the four - team playoff , which begins after the 2014 regular season. Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas, will be awarded the College Football Playoff 's first national championship game, to be held Jan.

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That's not going to stop the debate. Let's do a hypothetical point-counterpoint between a four-team and eight-team supporter.

Point

The four-team playoff works. It's like the Final Four in men's basketball, except all the No. 1 seeds are guaranteed. Hancock makes a great point. Once the format goes to eight teams, then the pundits will spend all of November debating Nos. 7-9. A four-team format protects the regular season. How do we know? Through the first three cycles, no team with two losses has advanced to the playoff.

Counterpoint

How can you have five Power 5 conferences and four playoff spots? You've created one ridiculous argument before the process even starts, and it finds systems to create other ones within those conferences. Like Baylor vs. TCU in 2014 or Ohio State vs. Penn State in 2016. An eight-team format allows those arguments to be settled in a playoff atmosphere. Why not take advantage of it?

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Unfortunately for college football fans, a playoff isn’t quite here for the 2013 season and in real life we have a two team championship game for all of the marbles on January 6. The four team playoffs will likely never select more than two teams from a conference, there is even debate they will avoid a

Believe it or not, this weekend marks the midway point of college football ’s regular season, which is usually the point on the calendar when the season really begins Barring the latter, though, it’s already starting to look like this year’s great playoff debate will be notable mainly for what it lacks: Suspense.

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Point

We already have that in the regular season. Ohio State beat Oklahoma, Wisconsin and Michigan in the regular season; the final game an unbelievable double-overtime thriller with more drama than most NFL playoff games. Why water that down for an extra round of playoff games, something that feels like wild card weekend in the NFL? For those complaining about the blowouts in the College Football Playoff semifinals the last two years, what are you going to do if there is an extra round of blowouts?

Counterpoint

It's more football. At least with an eight-team playoff all five Power 5 conferences would be represented and there would be no doubt about who the true champion is. Plus, you could put those first-round playoff games on campuses. Imagine Ohio State traveling to LSU or USC heading up to Michigan. Or better yet, Alabama traveling to face a Group of 5 sleeper such as South Florida or Boise State. Who wouldn't watch that?

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In a college football landscape that features constant debate over biases in polls—whether they be toward a certain conference or a particular team—one would hope those in charge of picking the four teams for the playoff will be as objective as humanly possible.

Kevin C. Cox/Getty ImagesThe new College Football Playoff selection committee released its first poll ever on Tuesday night. There will be four teams . The No. 1 team (MSU, right now) will play the No. 4 team (Ole Miss) in one semifinal.

Point

At home or in the stands? People would have to travel to a conference championship game, then a quarterfinal, a semifinal and a national championship game. That's a lot of money, and the risk for empty seats grows each time we do that. If you're going to go to eight teams, then you might as well eliminate conference championship games altogether.

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Counterpoint

Or you could make those conference championship games mean something more by giving the winner an automatic bid to the College Football Playoff. Imagine the intensity of those games then. Wisconsin-Penn State played in the Big Ten championship game — a fantastic game, by the way — and it meant essentially nothing in terms of the playoff. Give the winner guaranteed a spot in the College Football Playoff.

Point

That's a slippery slope. Virginia Tech and Florida lost three games apiece in the regular season. What if they would have beat Clemson and Alabama in the conference title games? Do you leave the Tigers and Tide out and reward losing three games? We'd rather leave deserving teams out then let undeserving teams in. Tell me there would have been a better championship game than Alabama vs. Clemson.

Where independent teams rank going into season

<p>Where do the Independent teams rank going into the season.</p>- CFN College Football Preview 2017

The Football Four Podcast on the College Football Playoff field. It wouldn't be college football without controversyThe playoff committee delivered four strong teams , but one is not a league champion for the first time.

Should the playoff committee be choosing the four best or four most deserving teams? play . Has the opportunity to win a national title truly expanded with the four - team College Football Playoff ?

Counterpoint

That Rose Bowl game between Penn State and USC was darn good, too, and they were playing as well as anybody. Both had slow starts, but at least they played tough competition in September. Same goes for Oklahoma. Michigan lost two regular-season games by four points. An eight-team playoff puts all those teams in the mix, not to mention creates some great matchups. Don't you want to see Nick Saban vs. Jim Harbaugh?

Point

You get those in the semifinals and we'll get them again this year. Keep in mind this is just the fourth year of this format. The first three years have created some great championship games, and we'll probably get another one in 2017-18. People who want an eight-team playoff are asking for too much too fast, and they'll probably ask for another round of expansion after that. Be careful what you wish for.

Counterpoint

Probably, but we'll argue all season about how a few more teams deserve their shot, too. The BCS started in 1998 and we had to wait almost 20 years for that playoff. Here's hoping we don't have to wait that long for common sense to prevail.

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